Loss-of-function presenilin mutations in Alzheimer disease. Talking Point on the role of presenilin mutations in Alzheimer disease

摘要

Presenilin mutations are the main cause of familial Alzheimer disease. From a genetic point of view, these mutations seem to result in a gain of toxic function; however, biochemically, they result in a partial loss of function in the γ-secretase complex, which affects several downstream signalling pathways. Consequently, the current genetic terminology is misleading. In fact, the available data indicate that several clinical presenilin mutations also lead to a decrease in amyloid precursor protein-derived amyloid β-peptide generation, further implying that presenilin mutations are indeed loss-of-function mutations. The loss of function of presenilin causes incomplete digestion of the amyloid β-peptide and might contribute to an increased vulnerability of the brain, thereby explaining the early onset of the inherited form of Alzheimer disease. In this review, I evaluate the implications of this model for the amyloid-cascade hypothesis and for the efficacy of presenilin/γ-secretase as a drug target.